Brussels package on energy. ″ Portugal takes advantage of little ″ for being early
The Minister of Environment and Climate Action, João Pedro Matos Fernandes, this Wednesday applauded the package of measures announced by Brussels to soften the impact of the rise in energy prices for families and companies, but guaranteed that Portugal “is fine” and even a little ahead of what was proposed.
The European Commission considers that the rise in prices requires “a rapid and coordinated response” at European level and, therefore, has presented a set of guidelines, through which it intends to “help citizens and businesses” to face the “exceptional increase” in prices. global energy prices, which should remain “through the winter”.
The package of measures “goes in the right direction, but Portugal makes little use of it because it has already committed to doing what Brussels talks about next year”, he explains to TSF the minister.
One of the examples is that of “support for the weakest”, to which the minister responds with “what is, very likely, the most robust social tariff for energy in Europe, benefiting 800,000 families”.
In terms of the reduction of direct taxes on electricity payments, Matos Fernandes argues that Portugal “did it last year, in VAT, for 85% of consumers”, while Spain “has now made it happen”.
Brussels also wants to see possible anti-competition in the energy market investigated and will ask the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to step up monitoring of the evolution of the carbon market, a recommendation that the Portuguese minister applauds.
“There are factual things: the price of electricity today, in the Iberian market, dictated by the price of gas, is one hundred euros lower than last Friday”, notes Matos Fernandes, who wants to verify the origin of these “fluctuations”.
Regarding the price of electricity to consumers, the minister has already announced, at a press conference on September 21, that there would be no “increases in the regulated market” in the next year.
As for companies, Matos Fernandes points out that the tariff for accessing the network will be reduced by up to 30%, a discount that businessmen have already admitted could end up being canceled out by high energy prices.
As a solution, the minister advises companies to sign long-term contracts and admits that the reduction in the tariff for access to the network may exceed what is planned, something that depends on the “accounts that the Regulatory Authority for Energy Services (ERSE) will make “- which can go beyond those of the executive – since, despite being independent, the regulator” is still influenced “by political decisions.
“I know from many entrepreneurs in Portugal that there is no variation whatsoever with what the price is on the wholesale market”, guarantees Matos Fernandes.
Asked about the contracts of businessmen, the minister explained that, after the reduction in the price of electricity at the beginning of the pandemic, some industrialists bet on “short-term contracts and these are the ones that are suffering now”.
